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Van appeared to secure a title shot when he upset Brandon Royval in the featured bout at UFC 317 on Saturday night. The 23-year-old Myanmar native then entered the cage to face off with Pantoja following the champion’s submission victory against Kai Kara-France in the evening’s co-main event.
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Pantoja appears to be energized by the potential of a new challenge in the division he has ruled for the past two years.
“When I was 23, I was working in the restaurant, cleaning dishes. Look at that. The guy is 23 and going to fight for the belt, for the world championship,” Pantoja said at Saturday’s post-fight press conference. “I think this guy is going to be my toughest challenger. He’s young. He’s hungry and he doesn’t make wars like I did in the past. I did my 35th professional fight tonight. That’s a lot of wars I passed through with a lot of very good fighters. The UFC gives me this new guy. I think everybody wants to see the new. No more rematches for me. I want to fight with that guy, too. I want that challenge to fight with the new blood, with a new kid.”
In the past, Pantoja has angled for a matchup with Demetrious Johnson, who is widely regarded as the flyweight GOAT. However, with fighters like Van on the rise, he believes the depth of the 125-pound weight class far exceeds the talent in the division during Johnson’s heyday.
Pantoja: Flyweight Depth Better Than Ever
“I said before I really want to fight with him [Johnson]. He said he’s retired, he’s not coming back. Maybe it’s not good for him to come back because the flyweight division right now is so different. This high level is different,” Pantoja said.
“I respect all the guys opening the doors for us but right now you see, especially in my division, you have the whole world in the same division. Top 10, you have guys from the whole world: Japan. Africa. Brazil. Russia. Australia. New Zealand. That’s so amazing to be part of that.”
Van, who accepted the fight against Royval just three weeks after defeating Bruno Silva at UFC 316, has risen to No. 1 contender much quicker than anyone could have expected. Now that Van has arrived, Pantoja is taking the challenge quite seriously.
“I found a couple fights from Joshua Van,” Pantoja said. “He does an amazing job with Rei Tsuruya. He defended all the takedowns. He beat [Silva] in the last fight. He got this opportunity to fight the No. 1 contender, Royval, and did an amazing job. Who can do that? Now, I think that’s my toughest challenge. Monday, I’m back to the gym. My coaches know that. I’m no more the champion of the world. I’m the challenger. I know who is my opponent and I know what I want. I want this belt again.”
This article first appeared at Recent News on Sherdog.com
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